BOOMING BUSINESS—Westlake Hills Elementary School students Michael Shahidi, 10, left, Ian Guss, 10, and Cody Rosenstein, 11, right, buy homemade pet rocks from Garrett Chen, 11, second from right, during a Mini Society market last week. The project allows them to participate in the economic and political aspects of a free market society, learn how the U.S. Constitution deals with potential issues and gain business skills. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers It’s Market Day in Steve Latshaw’s fifth-grade classroom at Westlake Hills Elementary, and students are learning how to become successful entrepreneurs in the fictional society of Topika.

Latshaw announces it’s time to prepare products and services for sale, and students are visibly excited.

The exercise is part of the fiveweek Mini Society entrepreneurship education program, which gives students the opportunity to make decisions related to government and the economy. Students create their own products and sell them according to the laws of supply and demand.

CASH FLOW—Student Mary Bissonette, left, checks her wallet to see if she has enough money to buy origami flowers from sellers Naomie Di Martino, center, and Michelle Hou during a Mini Society class market. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers When deciding how much ‘geoid currency’ to charge for their handmade collages and origami flowers, Michelle Hou and Naomie Di Martino considered their investment in the business.

“It matters how much time we put into it,” said Michelle, 10. Naming a reasonable price is important, she said. ‘“If your product costs too much money, no one will buy it.”

Eleven-year-olds Cody Rosenstein and Caleb Harvey used the same logic when they settled on a five-geoid price tag for their key chains made from a string of small plastic ornaments, which attracted a steady stream of customers.

“It took me 14 minutes to make them so I thought it would be a good price,” Cody said. “It’s not too expensive. It’s a fair price.”

Emma Adams and Leo Roberts, meanwhile, were trying to figure out how to get more people interested in their colorful cotton tablecloths.

“No one’s coming here because we’re in a back corner,” said Emma, 11, who learned the importance of location for marketing.

Aarun Devgan, 10, appeared to find a key to success with his tennis balls attached to strings.

“My business is very successful because everyone likes to play with balls. It’s a fun thing to do,” Aarun said.

The balls sold out before the market closed, prompting disappointment among clients still waiting in line.

Students also learned about the risks associated with business deals.

Ava Morgan sued two customers who bought her confetti eggs then cracked them open, creating a mess prohibited in Latshaw’s rules. The teacher shut down her business.

“I sued them for the amount of money I would have made,” said 11-year-old Ava.

Ava won the lawsuit she brought against customer Paul Hurley, 10, who was fined 41 geoids. Paul protested the biased ruling by Ava, who was serving as Topika’s president and judge.

“I’m innocent,” Paul said. “I’m part of the government, and I didn’t even get my own free speech.”

Latshaw has added government lessons to align the project more closely with the class social studies curriculum.

“It’s a nice hands-on opportunity to really experience government and the pros and cons of voting.

“People are disappointed, people disagree,” he said.

And he’s always working on new challenges. Soon, taxes will go up and Topika’s citizens will need to focus on making their businesses more profitable.

And an upcoming Market Day will be held with Sherrie Burke’s fifth-grade class, where a different currency is used and students will need to figure out the exchange rate.

“It’s interesting to see them in a position of real responsibility and how they handle it,” said Latshaw, who’s run the project at Westlake Hills for the past 15 years. The instructor will retire this year, ending a 43-year teaching career in Conejo Valley Unified.

“Maybe that’s given me a little more inspiration to really do as much as I can with this project as well as others,” he said.